March 26, 2004
Adam Socks
a little more info on the Adam socks if anyone's interested...
the name is a sort of double entendre, one which i'm very amused by (though, if you know me at all, you know that's an easy task). i had initially decided to call them the Adam socks because these were the first socks i ever made, and were of my own design. i never liked the idea of cuff-down socks, toe-up just made so much more sense to me. i also liked how they looked better, and toe ridges are the bane of my existance on commercial socks so there was the added appeal of being able to totaly do away with that. so, i did a lot of research, looking up all sorts of patterns and techniques. i read up on the magic loop concept, as i also despise DPN's. i'll use them... but they SUCK for commuting. my projects tend to get thrown into my backpack, and the magic loop holds up much better to that abuse.
so, the Adam socks were born. toe-up, simplest toe i could find, an easy twisted design across the top of the foot, hour-glass heel, and short cuff. i made myself one pair and fell in love. however, i also fell in love with Rogue, too, so one pair was IT.
in the meantime, i seem to have gotten myself involved with a magnificent boy named, of all things, Adam. when i realized that Rogue was, in fact, too big to be a backpack project any more... i asked if he would like anything. i flinched for a moment when i thought he was going to ask for a sweater (ok i admit it, i'm superstitious!!) but then he said "socks... socks would be nice!"
what better use for a sock named Adam, to be given to... Adam :)
i'm thinking about publishing this pattern if all goes as well with this second pair as it did with the first... would anyone else be interested?
oh, and i wanted to say, i'm very flattered about the interest my cable noro silk garden hat is generating. thank you all so much for your kind words! after a few more go-rounds with the pattern, and perhaps finding someone else to test it out, i may just indeed listen to the suggestions and put it up for sale. the readers of this blog will be the first ones to know, i promise!
the name is a sort of double entendre, one which i'm very amused by (though, if you know me at all, you know that's an easy task). i had initially decided to call them the Adam socks because these were the first socks i ever made, and were of my own design. i never liked the idea of cuff-down socks, toe-up just made so much more sense to me. i also liked how they looked better, and toe ridges are the bane of my existance on commercial socks so there was the added appeal of being able to totaly do away with that. so, i did a lot of research, looking up all sorts of patterns and techniques. i read up on the magic loop concept, as i also despise DPN's. i'll use them... but they SUCK for commuting. my projects tend to get thrown into my backpack, and the magic loop holds up much better to that abuse.
so, the Adam socks were born. toe-up, simplest toe i could find, an easy twisted design across the top of the foot, hour-glass heel, and short cuff. i made myself one pair and fell in love. however, i also fell in love with Rogue, too, so one pair was IT.
in the meantime, i seem to have gotten myself involved with a magnificent boy named, of all things, Adam. when i realized that Rogue was, in fact, too big to be a backpack project any more... i asked if he would like anything. i flinched for a moment when i thought he was going to ask for a sweater (ok i admit it, i'm superstitious!!) but then he said "socks... socks would be nice!"
what better use for a sock named Adam, to be given to... Adam :)
i'm thinking about publishing this pattern if all goes as well with this second pair as it did with the first... would anyone else be interested?
oh, and i wanted to say, i'm very flattered about the interest my cable noro silk garden hat is generating. thank you all so much for your kind words! after a few more go-rounds with the pattern, and perhaps finding someone else to test it out, i may just indeed listen to the suggestions and put it up for sale. the readers of this blog will be the first ones to know, i promise!
March 25, 2004
secret pal... and progress, finally
i got my first gift from my secret pal! (update, my first sending to MINE is being mailed tomorrow AM.)
it was absolutely magical to come home after a LONG day (class from 1:15 to 10pm. ouch) to find a box on my desk :) inside i found a lovely card, reading alice, just some things to help you with two socks at the same time. and... funny thing, i had JUST cast on for said socks this morning!! (pics further down.)
the inside of the box was even better:
that's one BEAUTIFUL tote bag, a magic loop pamphlet, two balls of elann sock yarn, a 40" #1 addi turbo, and inside the bag was... "queen kahuna's crazy toes and heels socks book". i cant even BEGIN to explain how shocked and pleased i was... wow. i couldnt quite grasp the whole "two socks at once" thing myself, but i wanted to start the Adam socks today cause Rogue was getting too big to be a train project any more... so i used magic loop, but i'm doing 1-needle-1-sock, just alternating which one i work on every now and then. however... i'm really getting into the hang of this sock thing, and these are only the second pair i've ever made! so, with the help of my new supplies, i promise there will be MANY more to come.
i'm very proud of the progress i made in only ONE day on these socks...
rogue's too big to carry, so i wanted a small project to throw in my backpack for the long train rides to school... my current knitting distraction is my new boy... so i figured, what better way to bust the knitting slump than by making something for him? i'm hoping socks are safe... hah. it's my own toe-up pattern, which may find its way onto my webpage some day. you cant really see, but there's a two-stitch twist up the front on either side. i'll get better pics when they're further along. but, considering my first pair took me three weeks... i think i'm making some great progress :)
speaking of PROGRESS... rogue!!!
i have officially reached the arm hole shaping... and i'm still in love. i think this just may work out after all :) i didnt work on rogue at ALL for about two weeks... i was sort of distracted... see the Adam socks above! but this monday, i decided... this is silly, i've been sitting on row 42 of chart A for weeks! so, in two short days i FINISHED chart A. it took me two and a half months to get to row 42, and two days to complete it... heh. i'll be starting the sleeves as soon as the socks are done, and then back to finishing the shoulders and hood... grafting, sewing, grafting some more, blocking (in no particular order) and then WEARING. ::sigh:: and i've already got a second one planned...
it was absolutely magical to come home after a LONG day (class from 1:15 to 10pm. ouch) to find a box on my desk :) inside i found a lovely card, reading alice, just some things to help you with two socks at the same time. and... funny thing, i had JUST cast on for said socks this morning!! (pics further down.)
the inside of the box was even better:
that's one BEAUTIFUL tote bag, a magic loop pamphlet, two balls of elann sock yarn, a 40" #1 addi turbo, and inside the bag was... "queen kahuna's crazy toes and heels socks book". i cant even BEGIN to explain how shocked and pleased i was... wow. i couldnt quite grasp the whole "two socks at once" thing myself, but i wanted to start the Adam socks today cause Rogue was getting too big to be a train project any more... so i used magic loop, but i'm doing 1-needle-1-sock, just alternating which one i work on every now and then. however... i'm really getting into the hang of this sock thing, and these are only the second pair i've ever made! so, with the help of my new supplies, i promise there will be MANY more to come.
i'm very proud of the progress i made in only ONE day on these socks...
rogue's too big to carry, so i wanted a small project to throw in my backpack for the long train rides to school... my current knitting distraction is my new boy... so i figured, what better way to bust the knitting slump than by making something for him? i'm hoping socks are safe... hah. it's my own toe-up pattern, which may find its way onto my webpage some day. you cant really see, but there's a two-stitch twist up the front on either side. i'll get better pics when they're further along. but, considering my first pair took me three weeks... i think i'm making some great progress :)
speaking of PROGRESS... rogue!!!
i have officially reached the arm hole shaping... and i'm still in love. i think this just may work out after all :) i didnt work on rogue at ALL for about two weeks... i was sort of distracted... see the Adam socks above! but this monday, i decided... this is silly, i've been sitting on row 42 of chart A for weeks! so, in two short days i FINISHED chart A. it took me two and a half months to get to row 42, and two days to complete it... heh. i'll be starting the sleeves as soon as the socks are done, and then back to finishing the shoulders and hood... grafting, sewing, grafting some more, blocking (in no particular order) and then WEARING. ::sigh:: and i've already got a second one planned...
March 08, 2004
promises, promises...
alright, so i didnt quite stick with the initial promise of regulating my posting, but i have an excuse! an 8 page paper that i left till the last minute! (i didnt say it was a good one.)
as i finally have a FULL version of paint shop pro, not just the 30-days-lasts-5-months free trial that i previously had, i've been playing with all my pictures lately. as you may notice, all of the photos in previous entries here are broken... those will all be mended within the next few days. either the pictures will be replaced with smaller blog-friendly photos (with possible links to larger ones if detail is not readily aparent) or they will be deleted. dont worry, i'll only delete things like pics of yarn stashes and silly things like that.
now, with the whole being-sick thing a few weeks ago, and the fact that i would do ANYTHING to avoid my paper, i've done quite well with my knitting lately... so on with the show, i suppose :)
item 1: this came about as the result of a friendly challenge. i dare anyone who reads this to knit some sort of fruit or vegetable and email me the picture! brokedown_tiger at yahoo.com
i'm also still working on a request for a friend, a nice jennie-style hat which wont crush her gorgeous hair, and will fit over the gigantic clips necessary to secure it. this was one go at that, but... still to small for her. i still think its beautiful, though, and will probably be going up for sale soon. noro silk garden.
now into the meat and potatoes. I'm still plugging away on Rogue, and loving every minute of it, but i decided that i needed something a bit more challenging to alternate between. hence, the St Brigid project was born.
it's out of alice starmore's aran book... which i have out from the library, and i'm SERIOUSLY debating whether or not to return it... i feel like such a bad person! heh. anyway, i'm absolutely in love with this patern. the ordinary braid separates the more complicated panels, which are singles on the side, then doubled into a mirror image for the center panel. that makes it relatively easy to get into a groove while working, but still enough of a challenge that it's interesting to switch to after a few long hours/minutes with rogue. my progress so far:
and just because i ought to, i'll update pics on rogue, too. it's hard to tell from pictures, but there's been a LOT of progress. i'm past the repeats and already on the 3rd or 4th row of the upper half of chart A. my proudest moment was attaching the pocket... i'm REALLY enjoying how this is coming out.
one last thing, for anyone who doesnt read my LJ (feroluce) there's a contest going on right now! i'm looking for help renaming this blog. tailspun just doesnt cut it i think... with so many of the other blogs you can look at the name, or the button, and already know at least SOMETHING about them... i think i need to work more on that. but anyway! for more information, complete rules and order form, please see my livejournal.
what i lack in quantity i make up for in quality :) hopefully i'll keep up with the posts now...
as i finally have a FULL version of paint shop pro, not just the 30-days-lasts-5-months free trial that i previously had, i've been playing with all my pictures lately. as you may notice, all of the photos in previous entries here are broken... those will all be mended within the next few days. either the pictures will be replaced with smaller blog-friendly photos (with possible links to larger ones if detail is not readily aparent) or they will be deleted. dont worry, i'll only delete things like pics of yarn stashes and silly things like that.
now, with the whole being-sick thing a few weeks ago, and the fact that i would do ANYTHING to avoid my paper, i've done quite well with my knitting lately... so on with the show, i suppose :)
item 1: this came about as the result of a friendly challenge. i dare anyone who reads this to knit some sort of fruit or vegetable and email me the picture! brokedown_tiger at yahoo.com
i'm also still working on a request for a friend, a nice jennie-style hat which wont crush her gorgeous hair, and will fit over the gigantic clips necessary to secure it. this was one go at that, but... still to small for her. i still think its beautiful, though, and will probably be going up for sale soon. noro silk garden.
now into the meat and potatoes. I'm still plugging away on Rogue, and loving every minute of it, but i decided that i needed something a bit more challenging to alternate between. hence, the St Brigid project was born.
it's out of alice starmore's aran book... which i have out from the library, and i'm SERIOUSLY debating whether or not to return it... i feel like such a bad person! heh. anyway, i'm absolutely in love with this patern. the ordinary braid separates the more complicated panels, which are singles on the side, then doubled into a mirror image for the center panel. that makes it relatively easy to get into a groove while working, but still enough of a challenge that it's interesting to switch to after a few long hours/minutes with rogue. my progress so far:
and just because i ought to, i'll update pics on rogue, too. it's hard to tell from pictures, but there's been a LOT of progress. i'm past the repeats and already on the 3rd or 4th row of the upper half of chart A. my proudest moment was attaching the pocket... i'm REALLY enjoying how this is coming out.
one last thing, for anyone who doesnt read my LJ (feroluce) there's a contest going on right now! i'm looking for help renaming this blog. tailspun just doesnt cut it i think... with so many of the other blogs you can look at the name, or the button, and already know at least SOMETHING about them... i think i need to work more on that. but anyway! for more information, complete rules and order form, please see my livejournal.
what i lack in quantity i make up for in quality :) hopefully i'll keep up with the posts now...
March 02, 2004
stuck in the middle with you
My original hope was that a blog would help me keep motivated and organized... in terms of my knitting. while it did at first, i find myself starting to slip off the blog-waggon. i need to make a plan...
i think from here-on in, my plan is to post, bare minimum, once every other day. and there will be photo-updates no less than twice a week. i dont even know if anyone else reads this blog, but i think setting up a schedule will really help me keep moving.
in addition, i'm not allowed to start another damn project until i get SOMETHING off the needles!! i have a rather large collection of needles in all shapes and sizes... and a surprisingly HUGE number of them are already occupied with WIP's. in the mark of a true addict, i started Alice Starmore's St Brigit about a week ago... which is seriously cutting into my rogue-knitting time, but i needed a break from the massive amounts of st st. the first inch or so of that sweater will be in the next photo update... which will be tomorrow!!
i'm in the middle of my great hat project, as well. i know once summer comes, i wont want to TOUCH a hat, let alone work on one for several days. fall is such a busy time of year that i cant count on having time or will then, either. so now, while i'm still in the mood, and still commuting (ohhh the godforsaken LIRR) my goal is to knock out two hats a week and store them away. all hats will be posted either here or on my LJ community (evilgreenfaerie), and any that dont get sold will be put away to be offered again for sale next fall or given as gifts.
in other news, i'm in love with alice starmore and elsbeth lavold. truly, texture knitting is my "thing".
i think from here-on in, my plan is to post, bare minimum, once every other day. and there will be photo-updates no less than twice a week. i dont even know if anyone else reads this blog, but i think setting up a schedule will really help me keep moving.
in addition, i'm not allowed to start another damn project until i get SOMETHING off the needles!! i have a rather large collection of needles in all shapes and sizes... and a surprisingly HUGE number of them are already occupied with WIP's. in the mark of a true addict, i started Alice Starmore's St Brigit about a week ago... which is seriously cutting into my rogue-knitting time, but i needed a break from the massive amounts of st st. the first inch or so of that sweater will be in the next photo update... which will be tomorrow!!
i'm in the middle of my great hat project, as well. i know once summer comes, i wont want to TOUCH a hat, let alone work on one for several days. fall is such a busy time of year that i cant count on having time or will then, either. so now, while i'm still in the mood, and still commuting (ohhh the godforsaken LIRR) my goal is to knock out two hats a week and store them away. all hats will be posted either here or on my LJ community (evilgreenfaerie), and any that dont get sold will be put away to be offered again for sale next fall or given as gifts.
in other news, i'm in love with alice starmore and elsbeth lavold. truly, texture knitting is my "thing".
